Chandigarh, May 8 (IANS) The Punjab cabinet on Tuesday approved financial assistance and government jobs on compassionate grounds to the next of kin of those from the state killed by the Islamic State in Mosul in Iraq.
A cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh here took the decision, including on required relaxation in the state policy to facilitate jobs on compassionate grounds to the intended beneficiaries.
The mortal remains of 27 deceased Indians hailing from Punjab were flown to Amritsar on April 3 after their bodies were exhumed in Iraq and DNA tests were conducted.
The victims hailed from Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Sangrur, Kapurthala, and Gurdaspur districts.
"The government had decided to provide employment to one dependent family member of each victim, as per their educational qualification and government policy, besides ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh," a government spokesman said.
Monthly pension of Rs 20,000 would continue to be paid to these families from the CM's Relief Fund till jobs are provided.
On the Chief Minister's directive, ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to 26 dependent family members, totalling Rs 1.30 crore, had already been disbursed from the Relief Fund, the spokesman said.
As per records, the spokesman said, one victim had no legal heirs.
The spokesman said that compassionate appointment to dependent family members of the deceased Punjabis did not fall within the purview of the state policy and hence a relaxation was required.
As many as 39 Indians, including the 27 from Punjab, were kidnapped and killed by the terror outfit IS in Mosul in June 2014.
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